Leaplings tell their birthday stories

Teacher Susan DeSena celebrates her birthday on both Feb. 28 and March 1 during non leap day years.

Nick Ciccone/Herald

Leapling Ellen Volk, of West Hempstead, will celebrate her actual birthday this year at her sister’s home in East Rockaway. She is pictured at right with her brother, Michael, in the mid-seventies.

Courtesy Ellen Volk

Leapling Ellen Volk, of West Hempstead, will celebrate her actual birthday this year at her sister’s home in East Rockaway. She is pictured at right with her brother, Michael, in the mid-seventies.

Courtesy Ellen Volk

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Susan DeSena teaches English at Lynbrook South Middle School, is college educated, has two sons — and Feb. 29 will only be her 15th birthday. “Everybody in this community knows February 29 is Mrs. DeSena’s birthday,” she said. “So, they’re making it special without [me] even trying — I’m just minding my own business.”

Those who hold the “leapling” distinction only see a birthday every four years, which often yields a lot of curiosity from friends and family trying to understand it.

DeSena said that when she was very young, she was often teased for her birthday not being on the calendar during non-leap years, making her feel like something of an oddity. One year on her birthday, her mother came into class to try to give her classmates a new perspective.

“I remember my mother coming in with the cupcakes and standing in front of the class

and telling the students how rare and how special it is,” she said. “From that moment on, everybody had a whole different respect for it.”

DeSena has tried to keep her actual age a mystery to her students, who struggle to grasp the concept, by saying things like, “You’re all older than me, that’s all you need to know.” She lives directly across the street from the school, which she said is no secret to most students who attend the school. In fact, she said within the first few weeks of a new school year she’ll get questions from incoming students about her birthday, joking, “I don’t even know you yet!”

During non leap years, DeSena celebrates on both Feb. 28 and March 1, which she said helped her turn it into something extra special. When the 29th hits, she said she’ll take her celebrations to school with her.

“I’ll bring in some cakes and I decorate the faculty room,” she said. “I put a sign up: ‘Please help me celebrate my birthday. After all, it only comes once every four years.’”

She said family members from out of state are planning to come visit her without her asking, because they know how rare it is. “Nobody forgets it’s my birthday,” she said.

In another four years, she plans to have a massive Sweet 16 dance party. In terms of what age she identifies as, she said it lies somewhere in between her leap year age and her actual age. “I feel good — I’ll say I feel 35,” she said. “I’m still young … I’ll be young my whole life.”

She’s 44 — and 11